African diaspora | The Harriet Tubman Institute

Margaret Ofori Asubonteng

rebsl — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:58:59 +0000

Margaret Ofori Asubonteng is a Black African Human Resource Management with interests in Black studies, labour, equity, law, student engagement, and community development. Her academic and leadership interests explore the intersection of Black lived experiences, institutional systems, social justice, and belonging within educational and professional spaces.

She currently serves as a Student Engagement Assistant in Liberal Arts & Professional studies �첥��Ƶ, where she supports student outreach, programming, and peer connection initiatives. Margaret has also contributed to student transition and leadership programming through York’s Student Leadership and Community Development team and has served as an Outreach Lead for a university case competition.

Her commitment to student engagement and service has been recognized through several honours, including a Certificate of Distinction for Excellence from the Student Community & Leadership Development, the Best College Crew Volunteer Award (2024–2025) from the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and recognition for her commitment to the Human Resources Student Association community. She also recently presented at �첥��Ƶ’s International Student Conference, where she spoke about navigating life as an international student.

Margaret is passionate about advocacy, and community-centered engagement, and she hopes to continue contributing to conversations that affirm the richness, complexity, and diversity of African and diasporic experiences.

Keywords: Black Studies, African Diaspora, Labour, Equity, Social Justice, Student Engagement, Community Development, Law, Belonging, Youth Leadership, International Students

Carlito Oliveira Junior

rebsl — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:54:48 +0000

Carlito Lopes de Oliveira Junior is a PhD candidate in History at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) and holds a Master's degree in History from the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), where he was advised by Prof. Dr. Luiz Fernando Saraiva. His doctoral research, supervised by Prof. Dr. Anita Correia Lima de Almeida (UNIRIO), investigates the internal slave market in the Recôncavo da Guanabara (Estrela, Iguaçu, and Magé, 1850–1888), using fiscal records, parish registers, and historical cartography. He also holds a Master's degree in History from UFF, with a dissertation on the spatial, economic, and political formation of Vila de Estrela (1846–1892). He is Director of Historical-Cultural Heritage Preservation at the Prefeitura Municipal de Magé (Rio de Janeiro) and founder of the cultural platform @historiademage. He is a member of the YSI/INET Economic History Working Group and a TEDx Countdown 2024 speaker.

Keywords: Internal slave trade, Atlantic slavery, second slavery, Recôncavo da Guanabara, nineteenth-century Brazil, historical demography, African diaspora, economic history, Atlantic capitalism, slavery, abolition

Zachary Scola-Allison

rebsl — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 19:56:56 +0000

A writer and award-winning artist and curator, Zachary's research focuses on the idea of the artist as brand, exploring the concept's interaction with race, class, and identity. His research offers a decolonising analysis of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s artworks, exploring the impact of Basquiat’s Afro-Caribbean heritage, appropriation, and commodification on his work. Central to his study is the popular labeling of Basquiat as “The Black Picasso,” a moniker that both includes and others the artist within the Western art canon. Using theoretical frameworks such as Homi K. Bhabha's concepts of mimicry and hybridity to interpret semiotic analyses of image and text within a postcolonial framework, Zachary critically examines how Basquiat’s art functions as a postcolonial counter-narrative. His work will contribute to the decolonisation of cultural narratives, exploring the effects of commodifying BIPOC artists.

Keywords: Decolonial, Postcolonial, African Diaspora, Basquiat, Branding, Commodification, Capitalism, Anti-Racism

Gemechu Abeshu

rebsl — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 20:36:20 +0000

Dr. Gemechu Abeshu is a refugee and forced migration researcher currently employed as a postdoctoral fellow at �첥��Ƶ. He is presently a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellow seated in the Department of Sociology at �첥��Ƶ. He earned his Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Bayreuth University (Germany) and an M.A. in Governance and Development Studies from Antwerp University (Belgium). His research interests include African Diaspora, forced displacements, racialized refugee integration, and non-state political power forms, the Horn of Africa.

Fabio Silva Magalhaes

alexall5 — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 01:33:52 +0000

A native from Bahia, Fabio Silva, aka Fabio Cascadura, is a Brazilian-Canadian MA in History at �첥��Ƶ. His MRP is a biographical study of the slave trader and Luso-Brazilian military officer Caetano Mauricio Machado (c.1750–1807) and his business with Bight of Benin.
His interests encompass economy, ethnography and culture related to Western Africa from the era of slavery to nowadays. He is a Research Assistant for different Digital Humanities projects such as Harriet Tubman Virtual Museum, Freedom Narratives, Anti-Slavery in the News (temporary name) and Equiano's World. Additionally, Fabio also has a strong musical background as a composer, singer and musician leading the band Cascadura for more than 20 years.